Commercial courts heralded by Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush in her first State of the Judiciary address could be in business
soon, with the first pilots launching as early as this summer, according to judges and lawyers involved in developing the
plans.

There were 1,152,052 new cases filed in state courts in 2013, a decrease of 7.3 percent over the previous year, according
to data released Tuesday by the Indiana Supreme Court and the Division of State Court Administration. The data continues to
show the trend of a drop in filings over recent years.

Come Jan. 1, lawyers better make certain they’re on firm ground before asking a judge to file court pleadings under
seal. Attorneys also may face new liability if confidential information is mistakenly entered in a public case file. State
and federal courts have rewritten rules for when and how court pleadings can be filed out of public view, reaffirming they
should be open to inspection with limited exceptions.

Five judges with a combined bench experience of more than a century are departing the Marion County courts at the end of the
year, joining dozens of jurists around the state who are calling it a career.

A judge recorded not guilty pleas Wednesday for a former Marine who is charged with murder in the strangulation deaths of
two women found in northwestern Indiana and is suspected of killing five others.

A man who allegedly confessed to killing seven women in Indiana refused to speak or even acknowledge his name to a judge Wednesday,
and a sheriff explained later that the suspect was upset his hearing was in open court before dozens of journalists.

With hindsight, there were signs years ago of increasing violence against women by Darren Vann, who police say has confessed
to killing seven women in northwestern Indiana and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

The reality television show “Cold Justice” linked Earl Taylor to the 1975 murder of his first wife, Kathy Taylor.
Dennis Majewski, Earl Taylor's attorney, said the TV program carried by the TNT cable network, and a follow-up newspaper
article that told viewers the episode was available on YouTube, led him to doubt he could find an untainted jury in Vigo County.

Tippecanoe County is just one of a handful of sites across the nation participating in a special initiative designed to constrict
the flow of minors into the juvenile justice system and give them a second chance.

An Indiana judge will allow reporters to post on social media during the sentencing of a former Purdue University student
who pleaded guilty to murder in the fatal shooting and stabbing of a fellow student in January.